Odd Future
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, often abbreviated to OFWGKTA (stylized OFWGK†Δ) or simply Odd Future, is anAmerican hip hop collective from Los Angeles, California. The collective is led by rapper/producer Tyler, The Creator, and includes rappers Hodgy Beats, Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis, and Mike G, singer-songwriter/rapper Frank Ocean, producers Left Brain,Syd Tha Kyd, Matt Martians, Hal Williams and other non-musical members, notably Jasper Dolphin, Taco Bennett, L-Boy and Lucas Vercetti. There are multiple smaller groups inside the collective: MellowHype, The Internet, The Jet Age of Tomorrow, EarlWolf, and MellowHigh. History 2007–2009: Early career Odd Future formed around 2006-2007 in Los Angeles. The original members were founder Tyler, the Creator (Tyler Okonma), Left Brain (Vyron Turner), Hodgy Beats (Gerard Damien Long), Matt Martians (Matthew Martin), Jasper Dolphin (Davon Wilson) andCasey Veggies (Casey Jones), the latter of which appeared only on the group's debut mixtape before branching out to other projects. However Casey Veggies remains a close contributor. At some point before the release of Bastard, Chicago-based rapperbrandUn DeShay collaborated with the group, and appeared on the track "Session," but Tyler and DeShay had a falling out, and his vocals on "Session" were replaced by Mike G. Much of their early music was recorded in a room of Syd the Kyd and Taco's South Central Los Angeles home, known as the Trap. 2010: Rise in popularity 2009-2010 saw several new members arrive: Domo Genesis (Domonique Cole), Earl Sweatshirt (Thebe Kgositsile), Mike G (Michael Griffin II), and Frank Ocean (Christopher Breaux). FoAngeles, the 2010 release of his debut album Earl, member Earl Sweatshirt was subsequently absent from the group for two years. The group completed a two-stop tour, their first outside of Los Angeles: in London, England, on November 5, 2010, and New York City on November 8. The concert at The Drop in London sold out within 48 hours of announcement by the group. Their concerts have been compared to punk rock shows, with stagediving, moshing, and group members antagonizing the crowd. 2011–present: Solo releases, TV show and Radio station MellowHype re-released their album BlackenedWhite through Fat Possum Records. Tyler, the Creator also signed a one album deal with XL Recordings and released his sophomore effort, Goblin, on May 10, 2011. They have collected a cult following, and have received press attention from blogs and magazines. Though they are often labeled as horrorcore, the group has universally dismissed it on Twitter, in interviews, and on tracks such as "Sandwitches". Pitchfork Media has labeled the group as indie rap. In April 2011, the group signed a deal with RED Distribution and Sony Music Entertainment to start their own label, Odd Future Records. On August 2, 2011, Odd Future announced on their website the Golf Wang Tour 2011. The tour included 27 stops, beginning on September 28, 2011 in San Diego, California at the House of Blues. On September 8, 2011, it was announced that Odd Future would be making a television show called Loiter Squad. The show was announced to be a sketch comedy show featuring various skits and pranks and originally aired on March 25, 2012 on Adult Swim. The show features Tyler, Jasper, Taco, Earl and Lionel as main cast members with other members of Odd Future making cameo appearances. The program is produced by Dickhouse Productions, which also is the production company for Jackass. On October 3, 2011, Tyler, The Creator tweeted a link to iTunes with a compilation album of 12 old Odd Future songs from artists within the group such as Domo Genesis, Hodgy Beats, Mike G, The Jet Age of Tomorrow, MellowHype, The Internet, and Tyler himself. The album is simply named 12 Odd Future Songs, despite having 13 tracks, including a brand new release by The Internet. On March 20, 2012, the collective released their debut album, The OF Tape Vol. 2. The album was a sequel to the original mixtape, The Odd Future Tape. On the same day, Earl Sweatshirt, who was absent from Odd Future from June 2010 until February 2012, first performed with the group at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. It was rumored that his mother sent him to an all-boys boarding school in Samoa, intended to discipline kids with drug issues and depression. Earl confirmed in an interview, after returning to the U.S., that he attended Coral Reef Academy, a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys situated outside the Samoan capital of Apia, because he was getting himself into trouble. Frank Ocean released his debut studio album channel ORANGE on July 17, 2012. Other solo releases for the second half of 2012 included Domo Genesis's No Idols with The Alchemist, released on August 1, and MellowHype's Numbers, released on October 9. On December 5, 2012 it was announced Frank Ocean was nominated for six awards at the 55th Grammys, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year for "Thinkin Bout You" and Album of the Year for channel ORANGE. On April 2, Tyler, The Creator released his second studio album, Wolf, which received positive reviews from critics and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 selling, 89,895 copies in the United States. Earl Sweatshirt released his debut studio album Doris on August 20, 2013, which was met with critical acclaim, and MellowHigh released their self-titled debut album together on October 31, 2013. On September 12, the Odd Future station premiered on the online 24/7 radio, Dash Radio, which was released the month before by DJ Skee. The station features a live playlist, special links such as "Taco Tuesday" (also repeated on Sundays) and coverage of live events, such as the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, also hosted by Odd Future. Members * Tyler, The Creator - rapper, director, producer, actor * Frank Ocean - singer-songwriter, rapper, producer * Earl Sweatshirt - rapper, producer, actor * Hodgy Beats - rapper, producer * Domo Genesis - rapper * Left Brain - producer, rapper * Mike G - rapper, chopped & screwed mixer * Syd tha Kyd - DJ, mixer, singer, producer * Matt Martians - mixer, producer, singer * Hal Williams - producer, rapper * Taco Bennett - rapper, actor, DJ * Jasper Dolphin - rapper, actor * Lucas Vercetti - Merchandise manager, "mascot" * L-Boy - Rapper, actor, writer Sub-groups * MellowHype ** Hodgy Beats ** Left Brain * The Jet Age of Tomorrow ** Matt Martians ** Hal Williams * The Internet ** Syd tha Kyd ** Matt Martians * MellowHigh ** Hodgy Beats ** Left Brain ** Domo Genesis * EarlWolf ** Tyler, The Creator ** Earl Sweatshirt * Sweaty Martians ** Earl Sweatshirt ** Matt Martians Controversy Odd Future were scheduled to appear at the February, 2014 Rapture Festival in Auckland, New Zealand, as a supporting act to Eminem. The group were not on the original bill, but were substituting for Kendrick Lamar after the concert had been sold out. A campaign was launched by an anti-violence group to prevent Odd Future performing, based partly on prior occurrences of the group supposedly inciting violence by their fans towards members of the public, and by the group's lyrics allegedly supporting rape and violence towards women.Immigration New Zealand canceled the visa of some group members because of prior acts of inciting violence, including one where the group allegedly encouraged fans to attack members of the police. Discography See also: Tyler, The Creator discography, Earl Sweatshirt discography, Mellowhype discography and Frank Ocean discography Albums * The OF Tape Vol. 2 (2012) Mixtapes * The Odd Future Tape (2008) * Radical (2010) Compilations * 12 Odd Future Songs (2011) Awards and nominations Category:Odd Future Category:Odd Future Group